Steam operated locomotive



l Dec. 3, 1940.- 1 RICHARDSON STEAM QPERATED LOCOMOTIVE Filed June 9, 14937 Patented Dec. 3, 1940 Umso stares PATENT OFFICE 2,223,386 STEAM oPnnA'rEn LoooMo'rIvs Lawrence Richardson, Melrose, Mass.

Application June 9, 1937, Serial No. 147,357

Y 16 claims. (ci. 10s-a7) This invention relates to steam operated locomotives and more particularly to a balanced driving means for such locomotives.

I It is Well-known in the locomotive art that the maximum safe speed at which a locomotive may travel depends upon, among other things, the degree of pounding of the driving wheels upon the rails. The pounding of the wheels upon the rails is commonly known as rail-pound and results from the reaction of the driving impulses of the main connecting rods upon the crank pins of the driving Wheels. Such pounding of the driving wheels may be likened to the slap developed by pistons in conventional internal combustion engines due to the angularity of the connecting rods. t

Rail-pound is particularly perceptiblegvvhen a locomotive is running at high speed and, moreover, is objectionable because it essentially limits the maximum speed at which a locomotive may be safely run. Under present travel demands, speed is of paramount importance and, therefore, the problem of reducing rail-pound is very critical.

It is also well-known that excessive rail-pound will place undue strains upon the locomotive frame, and locomotive driving gear in general, and is a constant source of danger in that such pounding may cause rail fracture or breakage,

and possible self-derailment Aof the locomotive.

V It is, therefore, the primary object 0f this invention to provide a locomotive construction in which the rail-pound is reduced to a practical minimum, thus enabling the locomotive to be safely operated at comparatively high, speeds.

The above is accomplished by providing a locomotive with driving wheels actuated by connecting rodimpulses acting in opposite directions and which impulses are synchronized with respect to each other or caused to act so that unbalanced' reactions are reduced to a minimum or substantially eliminated in their entirety.

In harmony with the above, another object of Y' theinvention is to provide a locomotive construction in which the forces acting upon the driving wheels to turn the same are counterbalanced so that the strain and wear on'the parts is reduced to a minimum.

.-Y 4A further object of the invention is to provide a locomotive construction in which the driving forces act in relatively predetermined unison or are Vcounter-balanced so that the pounding of the driving Wheels on the rails is substantially l less than in .prior locomotives of approximately the same weight having the same size and number .of driving wheels.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a locomotive construction in which the movements `of the elements of the driving means are so synchronized or counter-balancedthat the locomotive may be safely run` at speeds higher than locomotives of the same general class without danger of derailment through excessive rail-pound or undue stress on the frame and 10 other working parts due to unbalanced driving forces.

Other and. further objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription taken vin rconjunction ywith the accompanying 15 drawing, in which: I

-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a locomotive showing one form of the driving mechanism contemplated by this invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic View of 2() the driving mechanism shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is ,a `diagrammatic plan view ofthe structure shown in Figure 1, but `showing the i relative positions of the driving wheels upon opposite sides of the locomotive frame; 25

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic View showing a modiiication in which the invention is applied to a four-wheel locomotive drive; and

Figure 5 is a :diagrammatic view of a further modification of the invention showing the `same 30 applied to an eight-wheel drive for locomotives.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1,

2 and 3 of the drawing, the reference numeral I designates a locomotive and the numeral la desgnates `the usual train raijls, Three pairs of 35 wheels 2, 3 and 4, respectively, constitute the drivers for said locomotive yand engage said rails. These driving wheels are carried at `the opposite ends of axles 5, 6 and l, respectively. The axles 5, 6 and 'I are mounted in the customary journal ,boxes 8, 9 and lil operatively associated with a conventionalv locomotive frame VI I.

The frame II carries a cylinder I2 adjacent one end thereof and an opposed cylinder I3 adjacent the opposite end thereof. A piston I4 is dis- 4- posed in the cylinder VI2 and is connected to one end of a piston rod I5. The opposite end of said piston rod is'connected to a crosshead I6 slidably mounted between crosshead guides Il, The driving wheel 2 isope'ratively .connected with 50 said vcrosshead by a main connecting rod I9, one end of said connecting rod being directly secured to saidcrosshead andthe other end secured to a crank pin I8 carriedfby said driving wheel.

The cylinder .I3 contains a piston 20 which vis 515 connected to one end of a piston rod 2I. The opposite end of the piston rod is connected to a crosshead 22 slidably mounted between crosshead guides 23. The driving wheel 4 is provided with a crank pin 24 which is operatively connected with the crosshead 22 by a main connecting rod 25.

The driving wheel 3 is provided with a crank pin 26 and said pin is connected with the crank pin I8 of the driving wheel 2 by means of a side rod 2'I.

The journal boxes 9 and I0, which are associated with the axles 6 and 1, are provided with projections 29 and 30, respectively. A bar 28 has its opposite ends pivotally secured to said projections 29 and 36 by pivot pins indicated at 23 and 30', respectively. A lever 3l is pivotally mounted at 32 on the bar 28 at a point midway between the axles 6 and I. The axis of the pivot 32 is located so that it is in alignment, or in the same plane, with the axes of the axles 6 and 'I as indicated by the line X-X in Figure 2. The

object of thus aligning the several axes will be Figure 2 that the crank pin 24 of the driving wheel 4 leads the crank pins I8 and 26 of the driving wheels 2 and 3, respectively, by 180. With the parts'thus arranged it is apparent that the force exerted by the piston I4 in tending to rotate the driving wheels 2 and 3 is synchronized with an opposite and substantially equal force caused by movement of the opposing piston 26 in tending to rotate the driving wheel 4. The impulses of the pistons I4 and 20 oppose each other by reason of the fact that the crank pins of the driving wheels to which the main rods I9 and 25 are connected are disposed at an angle of 180 relatively to each other. Such relative disposition of the crank pins results in synchronization of the driving forces, and such synchronization is maintained through the pivoted lever 3l and the llinks 35 and 36 which together serve to constrain the crank pins I8, 26 and 24 of the drivers 2, 3 and 4, respectively, to their predetermined oli-set positions.

The description thus far has been limited to the driving mechanism upon one side of the locomotive I.r The driving mechanism upon the opposite side of said locomotive is a duplicate of that already described, except that the crank pins of the driving wheels upon said opposite side lead the crank pins of the driving wheels upon the described side by This relative disposition of crank pins will be clear from Figure 3. With the crank pins upon the opposite sides of the locomotive arranged as described, any possibility of the driving wheels coming to rest in dead-center position is eliminated. A further advantage of the above arrangement is that the driving impulses upon opposite sides of the locomotive are alternately exerted so that the strain upon the locomotive frame and the Various engine parts is much less than would be the case if they driving impulses of the pistons at the respective ends of the engine were exerted in the same direction simultaneously.

The journal boxes 8, 9 and IIJ are mounted in a conventionalmannerin the locomotive frame `I I. That is to say, said journal boxes are mounted with respect to the frame II so that they may move vertically a slight amount relatively to said frame and to each other. Such movement is permitted by reason of the fact that the frame II is supported by springs (not shown) which allow the respective journal boxes to move relatively toward the frame, as when passing over an irregularity in, or on, a rail, or in passing from one rail onto another rail the the end of which is slightly higher or lower than the first-mentioned rail, etc.

Inasmuch as the spring-mounting of the locomotivev frame upon the journal boxes is no part of the present invention, the details of such mounting have not been illustrated in the drawing. YIt is deemed sutcient for present purposes to state that the frame may be supported upon helical springs interposed between the journal boxes and said frame, or said frame may be supported by any one of the various known frame suspension devices employing saddles, springs, links, etc.

Since the journal boxes 8 and 9, which are connected by the bar 28, may move slightly relatively to the frame Il, it is essential that the axis of the pivot 32 of the lever 3| be maintained at all times in a plane common to the axes of the axles 6 and 'I. Otherwise, there will be a tendency for the forces acting on the links 35 and 36 connecting the lever 3I to the driving wheels 3 and 4 respectively to cause one or the other of said links to either buckle under compression or to break under tension. The creation of either of such forces in the links 35 and 36 will tend to disrupt the synchronization of the opi posed driving forces. However, by mounting the bar 28 relatively to the axles 6 and I as described above, the pivot 32 will travel in accordance with the vertical movement of the particular axle, and the relative relationship of the axes of said pivot and said axles will not be disturbed. It will be understood, however, that the vertical movement of the axles 6 and 1 relative to the frame II or to each other is of such slight degree that at no time will such movement place any appreciable stress upon the pivot pins 29 and 30'.

In Figure 4 of the drawing, a modification is disclosed which employs four driving wheels instead'of six, two driving wheels being disposed on each side of the locomotive. In said modication, a main connecting rod I9' isshown connected to a crank pin 26 which in `turn is directly connected by a link 35' to one end of a lever 3 I Thus, the main connecting rod I9` acts directly upon the driving wheel 3 to rotate the same. An opposing main connecting rod 25' is connected to a crank pin 24 of a driving wheel 4. This crank `pin 24' is directly connectedby means of a link 36 to the opposite end of vthe lever 3|. The crank pin '24 leads the crank pin 26' by 180.` It will be understoodrthat in the modification shown in Figure 4, there will Y-be driving wheels upon the opposite side of theflocomotive which have crank pins that lead the crank pins 24' and v26 by 90. l

Thepcounter-balancing of the driving forcesof the four-wheelv driving arrangement shown in Figure 4 is similar to that described above with' reference to the embodiment shown in Figures l,

leaf

" Si at a pointmidway between the axes of the axles S and l". It will be particularly noted from Figure that the axes of the 'pivot 32" is in a plane common to the axes of the axles and "l", as indicated by the line'Z-Z. Hence, it will be apparentthat as either of the axles 5" or l move relativelyl toward or away fromthe frame, the pivot 32 will move raccordingly and there will be nc tendency for links 35" and 36" to buckle or buck each other.

In vaddition to thel above, Figure 5 shows an adaptation of the invention to an eight-wheel locomotive drive. In the form shown, an additional driving wheel 38is connected by a side rod 33 to the `driving wheel 4". It will be clear "from a comparison of Figures 2 and 5, that Figure 5 illustrates one manner in which two additional driving wheels may be added to a six-wheel drive such as shown in Figure 2, and an arrangement by which four additional drivingwheels may 'be added to a four-wheeldrive such as shown in" Figure 4. However, it will be understood that any number of additionaldriving wheels may be connected to the two driving wheels adjacent the counter-balancing lever by merely extending the side connecting rods to a length such as to accommodate the span between the crank pins of said adjacentA drivers and said additional drivers.

It will beifurther understood that while Fig- `ure 5 shows only the driving wheels upon one motive as a whole and also permits running the locomotive at comparatively high speeds, say of over 100 mile-s per hour, without danger of strainingthe` parts or causing excessive wear of such parts. Since the thrusts of the main connecting rods upon one side of the locomotive are synchronized by the lever 3|, and since said rods exert their thrust alternately to those of the connecting rods upon the opposite side of the locomotive, smoother operation of thedriving mechanism is assured. Furthermore, such synchronizing of the connecting rod thrusts reduces the pounding of the wheels upon the rails to a practical and safe minimum. i

It will be understood that various modifications 'and equivalent arrangements may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention disclosed herein or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A locomotive comprising, a frame, two driving wheels at each side of said frame, each of 'said driving wheels having a crank pin, a lever disposedv between the wheels on each side of said locomotive, rigid means pivotally supporting said lever so that its 'axis of rotation is always in a plane common to the axes of said wheels and a link directly connecting each end of said levers to said crank pins.

' 2. .A locomotive comprising, a frame, two driving wheels at each side of said frame, each of said driving wheels having fa crank pin, the crank pinsof the driving wheels on the respective sides of said frame being relatively off-set 180 from each other and the crank pins of the drivingf wheels onone side of said frame being off-set 96 relative to the crank pins of the wheels on the opposite side of said frame, a lever disposed between the wheels on each side of said frame, pivot means supporting said levers so that the ends thereof are disposed above and below said pivot means, means maintaining the axis of said pivot means in a plane substantially common to the axes of said driving wheels, and means connecting the opposite ends of said levers to said driving wheels on the respective sides of said frame. y l

3. A locomotivecomprising, opposed cylinders at one side thereof, each of lsaid cylinders hav-k ing a piston therein, two driving wheels disposed betweensaid cylinders, means operatively connecting said pistons with said driving wheels, a pivoted `lever disposed ubetween `said driving wheels, and' means connecting said' lever to said driving wheels. i

4. A locomotive comprising, a frame, opposed cylinders on opposite sides of said frame, each' of said cylinders having a piston therein, at least two driving wheels at each side of said frame between said cylinders, means operatively connecting said pistons with said driving wheels, a lever disposed between two adjacent driving wheels on each side of said frame and means connecting said levers to said adjacent driving wheels. v

5. A locomotive comprising, opposed cylinders at one side thereof, each of said cylinders having a pistoni-herein, two driving wheels disposed between said cylinders, means operatively connect-- ing said pistons with said driving wheels, a lever pivotally mounted between said driving wheels, the axis of said pivotal mounting lying in a plane common to the axes of said driving wheels, and means connecting said lever to said driving wheels.

6. A locomotive comprising, a frame, journal boxes associated with said frame,la pair of axles carrying driving wheels at opposite ends thereof journaled in said looxes a bar connecting the journal boxes at one side of said frame, a lever disposed between said axles and pivotally supported by said bar so that its opposite ends are above and below said bar, and means connecting the opposite ends of said lever to adjacent driving wheels.

7. A locomotive comprising a frame, journal boxes associated with said frame, a pair of axles carrying driving wheels at opposite ends thereof journaled in said boxes, a bar connecting said boxes at one side of said frame, a lever disposed between said axles 'and pivotally supported by said bar so that its opposite ends are above and below said bar, the axis of said pivotal support lying in a plane substantially common to the axes of said axles, and means connecting the opposite ends of said lever to adjacent driving wheels.

8. Driving means for a locomotive having a frame including, two driving wheelsleach of said driving wheels being mounted upon a separate axle, rigid means pivotally connecting said axles,

a leverdisposed between saiddriving wheels and pivotally supported by said means, andmeans connecting said lever .to said driving wheels.

9. Driving means for a locomotive having a frame including, two driving wheels, each .of said driving wheels being mounted upon a separate axle, rigid means pivotally connecting said axles, a lever disposed between 'said driving wheels and pivotally supported by said means, th-e axis of said pivotal support lying in a plane common to the axes of said driving axles, and means connecting said lever to said driving wheels.

10. Driving means for a locomotive including, two driving wheels, each of said driving wheels being mounted upon a separate axle, a longitudinally 'elongated journal box, the ends of said axles on one side of said locomotive being mounted in saidjournal box, a lever disposed between said driving wheels and pivotally supported by said journall box so that its opposite ends are above and below said journal box, and means connecting the opposite ends oi said lever to said driving wheels.

1l. Driving means for a locomotive including two driving wheels, each of said driving wheels being mounted upon a separate axle, a longitudinallyelongated journal box, the ends of said axles on one side of said locomotive being mounted in said journal box, a lever disposed between said driving wheels and pivotally supported by said journal box so that its` opposite ends are above andbelow said journal box, the axis of said pivotal mounting lying in a plane common to the axes of the ames of said driving wheels, and means connecting the opposite ends of said lever to each of said driving wheels.

12. In a locomotive, a frame, at least two driving wheels on each side of said frame, axles carrying said driving wheels, drive balancing means disposed between two adjacent axles, a piin mounted in a plane common to the axes of said 45 axles and pivotally supporting said drive balancin'grne'ans relatively to said axles, and means directly connecting said drive balancing means to at least one of the driving wheels carried by said adjacent axles on each vside of said frame.

13. A locomotive comprising a frame, two axles extending transversely of said frame, a driving wheel on each end of said axles, drive balancing means between ysaid driving wheels, supporting means for said drive balancing means connecting said axles together, a pivot for said drive balancing means Icarried by said supporting means, the axis of said pivot always lying in a plane common to the axes of said driving wheels, and means connecting said drive balancing means with Isaid driving wheels.

14. A locomotive lcomprising a frame, a pair of Iaxles extending transversely of said frame, driving wheels upon the ends of said axles, a lever disposed between said driving wheels, supporting means for said lever carried by said axles and including a pivot for said lever, the axis of said pivot being positioned so that it always lies in a plane common to the axes of said driving wheels, and means connecting said lever with said driving wheels.

15. A locomotive comprising aV frame, two axles havingV drive wheels'at one side of the frame, each of said driving wheels having a crank pin, drive balancing means between said driving wheels, supporting means for said drive balancing means connecting said axles together, said supporting means including a pivot for said drive balancing means, the axis of said pivot being xed in a planecommon to the axes of said driving wheels, and means connecting said drive balancing means to said crank pins.

16. A locomotive comprising a frame, a pair of :axles extending transversely of the frame, a driving-wheel on each of said axles at one side of said frame, each of said driving wheels having a crank pin, the crank pin of one of said drivingwheels being angularly disposed relatively to the other of said drive wheels, means connecting said axles together, a pivot pin carriedby said connecting means, the axis of said pivotgpin being positioned so as to always lie in a plane substantially common to the axes of said driving wheels, drive balancing means mounted upon said pivot, and means connecting said drive balancing means to said crank pins.

- LAWRENCE RICHARDSON. 

